Topic

As the title says, Beryl has lost coolent today. I drove over to mother in laws, a few miles away, parked up had a chat and a coffee with her.. Went to go and looked at Beryl, and thought. Hmmm water there, I wonder, so I get on hands and knees looking to see where this water is coming from. It appeared to be dripping from the front of the car.. Rad? Rad hoses???
Checked the expansion tank, less than half the amount that was in there... Panic.... Filled back up with water and took a ginger drive home.
Have been out and tried to get the slam panel off (thanks David for the how to, but mine appears to have more awkward nuts than yours!!), gave up.. Started her up, left running for 10 mins to get up to temp, checked, no leaks, no coolent drop.. Nothing..
So come on guru's what is the problem here? I am a little worried about driving her at the moment

Sounds like the rad or rad hoses. Time to invest in a nice aluminium one methinks! Our rad only leaked when we were on an incline - if you were parked on a level surface you'd have no idea there was a problem.

The way we narrowed it down was to take front bumper off, park her on a slope and watch as she started dripping coolant then followed it back to the source (which was the rad & not the hoses! :frown: )

Good luck mate!

I am taking it to a local garage on saturday, get them to check it and pressure test the system. That is going to show up what is going on.
I hope its as simple as a rad hose...

Well, as its the front of the car, its either gonna be the rad (most likely) or one of the rad hoses...so either way not too expensive If it is the rad then get an alu one

One other point to check is the bleed screw/bolt on the right side of the radiator as you stand staring forlornly under the bonnet.

They are a notorious weak point!

David Aiketgate;3381 wrote: wrote:

One other point to check is the bleed screw/bolt on the right side of the radiator as you stand staring forlornly under the bonnet.

They are a notorious weak point!

I did shove my little fingers in there to see if it was wet, but nope, dry as a bone...

Whilst I have you here David, how the hell did you get those annoying bolts undone? I tried to pull the plastic forward to get the spanner on, but couldnt do it? I have 3, even though there should 4 (the two (one of mine has vanished!!) you showed, in your photo's and one either end of the panel)...

Teri;3383 wrote: wrote:

I did shove my little fingers in there to see if it was wet, but nope, dry as a bone...

Whilst I have you here David, how the hell did you get those annoying bolts undone? I tried to pull the plastic forward to get the spanner on, but couldnt do it? I have 3, even though there should 4 (the two (one of mine has vanished!!) you showed, in your photo's and one either end of the panel)...

If you've undone all the screws across the top of the bumper, you should be able to pull the plastic forward allowing you to get a spanner onto the two central bolts. I don't know what these other two bolts are, where exactly are they?

Sorry I cant do the sticky in bits of writting, so will try and explain..



Right see that there piccie, where the two nuts are in the middle, well if you go to the left of it, between screw numbers 1 and 2 and the other end 4 and 5, I have 2 more of those blasted nuts and bolts in them holes.. (you can see the holes sort of, in your pic, with no nuts and bolts in)...
Hope that makes sense..

I would definitely pop the bumper off and have a look - the rad is easy to change and will save you a fortune if you DIY it!

Teri;3388 wrote: wrote:

Sorry I cant do the sticky in bits of writting, so will try and explain..

Right see that there piccie, where the two nuts are in the middle, well if you go to the left of it, between screw numbers 1 and 2 and the other end 4 and 5, I have 2 more of those blasted nuts and bolts in them holes.. (you can see the holes sort of, in your pic, with no nuts and bolts in)...
Hope that makes sense..

The two central nut/bolts hold a central bracket. Afaik, there is nothing behind those two positions you have highlighted:dunno: So if you can get the two central nuts off, the slam panel should come out.

If you can't get a spanner in behind them, then there is a big bolt behind each front indicator, holding the bumper on. if you loosen them there should be enough slack to get the spanner in! Be carefull, because there are still hidden bolts attaching the bumper to each wing!

Well I will have another look tomorrow, when I come back from mums, fingers crossed and a 2 litre bottle of coolent in the boot, and see whats what...

AdamElphick;3389 wrote: wrote:

I would definitely pop the bumper off and have a look - the rad is easy to change and will save you a fortune if you DIY it!

Ditto we did ours with help from Paul and just an extra little tip for people reading this... once you've detached the hoses from the rad you've got to keep them closed off... a good way to do this if you don't have the right tools is get two spanners... push them tightly against the hose so it closes the hole off... then tie 2 cable ties tightly through the spanner holes. Hope that makes sense!